Preview: Blue Jackets head to Toronto seeking third straight win

GAME 52: BLUE JACKETS (29-23-4) AT MAPLE LEAFS (34-19-5)
Location:Air Canada Centre, 7 P.M., Tuesday
TV:Fox Sports Ohio/Fox Sports Go; NHLN-US, Sportsnet, TVA Sports
Radio:97.1 FM & BlueJackets.com
TORONTO - The Blue Jackets have an opportunity to do something they haven't done in a while, and something they haven't done much this season.
If they can defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs for a third time to sweep the season series, it will be the third straight victory for Columbus, which hasn't strung together more than two consecutive wins since Nov. 11-24, when the Blue Jackets had a season-high, six-game winning streak.
A win would also move the Jackets back into the second wild card in the Eastern Conference ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes, who are idle.
"I just want us to keep building," Columbus coach John Tortorella said Tuesday, after the Blue Jackets defeated the New York Islanders 4-1 at Barclays Center to begin a back-to-back set. "They should feel good about their last couple games. Actually, they should feel good about the last five or six games, but you need the result for players to feel good."

The result of winning has finally happened the past two games, thanks largely to the Blue Jackets dominating puck possession and the shot count. Columbus downed the New Jersey Devils 6-1 on Saturday and has outscored the past two opponents by a 10-2 margin.
The Blue Jackets are also on a roll outshooting opponents, racking up a 226-145 edge over the opposition during the past five games.
"We're a team that thrives off being on the attack," Columbus captain Nick Foligno said. "When we get on our heels, any team really, it's hard to play. Teams smell blood. But when you're the team that's smelling blood … we felt like sharks [with blood] in the water [Saturday against New Jersey]. You're hungry for that next one. You're sensing a team is on their heels. We are really dangerous when we play like that, and that's the mentality we have to find."
They'll need it against the Maple Leafs, who didn't play Tuesday and have their second four-game winning streak going in the past nine games.
Since losing 3-2 to the Blue Jackets in overtime Jan. 8 at Air Canada Centre, when Toronto allowed two late goals to tie and Artemi Panarin's game-winner, the Maple Leafs have gone on a tear. They're riding a four-game winning streak, have an 8-3-2 mark since that game and are 8-2-0 in their past 10 games.
Toronto has a solid grip on a playoff spot after 58 games, sitting third in the Atlantic Division with 73 points. Columbus is just the outside the second wild card in the East, a point behind the Hurricanes, with 26 games remaining. The Jackets are also playing teams from their own division quite a bit this month.
"We haven't beat Columbus this year," Maple Leafs coach Mike Babcock said after morning skate Wednesday. "They've had 50 shots the last two games, smacked us around a couple times ... the team we're playing today, I just checked the standings and they're right there [in the playoff hunt], so they're going to be all-in. You can count on it, and we have to be all-in, as well."
The win Tuesday in New York concluded a five-game stretch against Metropolitan Division teams (2-3-0), and they'll play five of six against Metro opponents after the Maple Leafs - including the first four in a row.
They're essentially in a playoff fight already, battling with a handful of teams for a wild-card spot.
"It's something that we avoided last year, and I've said it … it hurt us a little bit, because of just how easy it was to kind of coast when we shouldn't have," Foligno said. "We should've been gearing up, but there's games where you're almost trying not to get hurt, because you know that playoffs … you're already in. So, your mindset's not really where it needs to be."
That's not the case this year.
"Right now, we've got no room for error, in a sense, which is a great way to be," Foligno said. "I think it's going to bode well for us down the stretch, and that's how we have to approach it."
SERIES RECORD
2017-18 Season: (2-0-0). This is the finale of the three-game series. The Blue Jackets are looking for a sweep after winning the first two games. Columbus won the first one, 4-2, on Dec. 20 at Nationwide Arena and won the second game, 3-2, in overtime Jan. 8 at Air Canada Centre, overcoming a late two-goal deficit to force OT.
All-time (W-L-T-O): 13-10-1-0 overall; 8-4-1-0 in Toronto
WHO'S HOT
Blue Jackets: Pierre-Luc Dubois has scored a goal in three straight games, Panarin has a three-game point streak (two goals, two assists) and Oliver Bjorkstrand has posted back-to-back games with a goal and assist.
Maple Leafs: William Nylander had two goals and an assist Monday against the Lightning, and has 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in the past 10 games.
EYES ON: THE BLUE JACKETS
EYES ON: THE MAPLE LEAFS
PROJECTED LINEUPS
BLUE JACKETS
Forwards
Artemi Panarin - Pierre-Luc Dubois - Cam Atkinson
Oliver Bjorkstrand - Alex Wennberg - Nick Foligno
Boone Jenner - Brandon Dubinsky - Josh Anderson
Matt Calvert - Lukas Sedlak - Jussi Jokinen
Defensemen
Zach Werenski - Seth Jones
Jack Johnson - Markus Nutivaara
Dean Kukan - David Savard
Goaltenders
Sergei Bobrovsky
or
Joonas Korpisalo
Others: Scott Harrington, Markus Hannikainen
Injured reserve: Ryan Murray (upper body), Sonny Milano (torn oblique)
MAPLE LEAFS
Forwards
Zach Hyman - Auston Matthews - William Nylander
Patrick Marleau - Nazem Kadri - Mitch Marner
James van Riemsdyk - Tyler Bozak - Connor Brown
Leo Komarov - Dominic Moore - Kasperi Kapanen
Defensemen
Morgan Rielly - Ron Hainsey
Jake Gardiner - Nikita Zaitsev
Travis Dermott - Roman Polak
Goaltenders
Frederik Andersen
Curtis McElhinney
Others: Josh Leivo, Connor Carrick, Matt Martin
Injured reserve: Nikita Soshnikov (lower body)
Long-Term IR:Nathan Horton (back), Joffrey Lupul (sports hernia)